Investigating the variations in survival rates for very preterm infants in 10 European regions: the MOSAIC birth cohort

Objective:To investigate the variation in the survival rate and the mortality rates for very preterm infants across Europe.Design:A prospective birth cohort of very preterm infants for 10 geographically defined European regions during 2003, followed to discharge home from hospital.Participants:All deliveries from 22 + 0 to 31 + 6 weeks’ gestation.Main outcome measure:All outcomes of pregnancy by gestational age group, including termination of pregnancy for congenital anomalies and other reasons, antepartum stillbirth, intrapartum stillbirth, labour ward death, death after admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and survival to discharge.Results:Overall the proportion of this very preterm cohort who survived to discharge from neonatal care was 89.5%, varying from 93.2% to 74.8% across the regions. Less than 2% of infants